Politics of Duck Dynasty

The return of Phil Robertson to the No. 1 show on cable television, Duck Dynasty, is first and foremost about money. A&E network obviously concluded that suspending the patriarch of the reality TV family was bad for business.

But, the decision also has a political undertone that should serve as a wake-up call to the Democratic Party: the power of the LGBT and African-American communities pales in comparison to the power of Duck Dynasty adherents.

While A&E initially suspended Robertson for comments he made that the network considered anti-gay and insulting to blacks, it soon found out that such sensibilities carry a high price.

More than 250,000 supporters of Robertson and the show signed petitions demanding his return to the show, which A&E subsequently did.

It is noteworthy that the organization that spearheaded the petition drive is called Faith Driven Consumer. As the name clearly suggests, Americans of faith are speaking out in greater numbers on issues they find are at odds with their beliefs.

The Republican Party has long courted these faith-based voters and in election after election they have been shown to be a political force to be reckoned with.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trasnsexual community and the black community obviously have a home in the Democratic Party, but as the Duck Dynasty controversy has shown, they don't have the political or financial muscle to force a television network to act on their behalf.

Duck Dynasty isn't just a show; it's a popular line of consumer products that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Money is the root of all television — and the mother's milk of politics.

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